Maintenance crews

[JML22]

Is it me or do some crews get shafted in the $$$ department?
The nice course in victoria is prepping for the Telus skins game right now and the crews are working double shifts, most get paid 10-14 an hour and dont get tipped out or anything
Doesnt it seem like a bit of a gip?

[shades9323]

Is it me or do some crews get shafted in the $$$ department?

No, 10-14 per hour sounds like a good wage for doing yardwork.

[mrmiller8]

Most of the people that work on grounds crews are uneducated and dont have any formal training other than working on the job or at a previous golf course. Depending on the course there is really only two people (sometimes one) that have the education it takes to manage a supurb golf club. Those being the Superintendent and the Assistant Superintendant. So no, I would say that 10-14 is a great wage.

Throw free golf into the equation and where do I sign up....

[saevel25]

I wouldn't say uneducated, i bet alot are temp workers as well, those going to highschool or college. Don't start labeling people if you don't know.

[martytilma]

Throw free golf into the equation and where do I sign up....

Amen brother!!!!

[Devo]

I wouldn't say uneducated, i bet alot are temp workers as well, those going to highschool or college. Don't start labeling people if you don't know.

I believe what was meant was that the job requires no formal eduacation.

[Flipmode]

I was a grounds keeper when I was in high school (16) at Baltimore Country Club that paid $12 an hour. Not a bad gig for a summer job while in high school but Im glad I didnt make a career out of it. Of course I was an idiot and didnt golf back then so I didnt get to take advantage of the free golf...if I only knew back then what I know now. LOL You better believe when I retire in 25 years that I'll be the first one to sign up for that job again.

To sum it up, its a great job...if you dont need $$$

[RedCard03]

yeah that sucks meanwhile the Super is getting like 50 grand. I want his job, and i am actually thing about going to golf and turf management school.

[goalman2000]

do not label the help at golf courses, course i worked at 8 of us had BS or higher....

[VMAN]

It can be more than 50 easily.

[The Tin Man]

Yard work turned into a relay race.

After getting a job on a golf course I stopped playing.  The last place I wanted to be after work was on a golf course .  I lasted 6 months until I could find a good job - the pay sucked  (minimum wage at one of Florida's more expensive private clubs), and the work pace was brutal.  What you don't see is the mad rush that begins in the dark to mow 18 greens and rake 18 traps before play begins.

One of the requirements of hosting a tour event is having the manpower to ready a well manicured course before play. A course that will never host the tour can get by with 10 slaves at minimum wage. (They were always hiring.)  I'm guessing that Augusta pays better in order to keep help that can cut a clean fringe around the greens?

[turtleback]

Originally Posted by goalman2000

do not label the help at golf courses, course i worked at 8 of us had BS or higher....

I think you are missing the point.  The point is not what education some of the workers may HAVE, it is what is NEEDED to do the job.  You do not NEED a BA to be a golf course maintenance worker.  You don't even need to know how to speak English.  You DO need to be able to work hard.  But education that is unrelated to the functions of the job is irrelevant, in the employment marketplace.  No one is going to pay a golf course maintenance worker extra because they have a BA in history.  And it is the pay levels that started the discussion.

Now if someone has a BA in something like agriculture or agronomy and is working as a maintenance worker to get their foot in the door and hopefully move up, that is a different story.

[glock35ipsc]

Originally Posted by The Tin Man

After getting a job on a golf course I stopped playing.  The last place I wanted to be after work was on a golf course.

Hahaha!  When I was an auto mechanic, I HATED working on my own vehicles. Always had someone else do stuff, even simple mundane stuff like oil changes.  Once I quit turning a wrench for a living, working on my old hot rods became one of my favorites ways to spend time.

[The Tin Man]

Originally Posted by turtleback

Now if someone has a BA in something like agriculture or agronomy and is working as a maintenance worker to get their foot in the door and hopefully move up, that is a different story.

The problem is that the job you want is your bosses, and he knows it.  He wants people who are willing to start on the bottom and stay there.

The ideal maintenance worker is an illegal alien. Works hard for minimum wage and doesn't complain.

The most skilled job is cutting greens and that just takes practice. Once you have that down maybe you can step up to a better run course and double your salary to double minimum wage. Not exactly a career path.

[The Tin Man]

Originally Posted by glock35ipsc

Hahaha!  When I was an auto mechanic, I HATED working on my own vehicles. Always had someone else do stuff, even simple mundane stuff like oil changes.  Once I quit turning a wrench for a living, working on my old hot rods became one of my favorites ways to spend time.

This is funny..........In Florida at that time it was very difficult to find a job that paid.  I took the job on a golf course because for minimum wage (and free meals - it was a resort club) I will cut grass and rake sand.  (I even thought I would play lots of free golf....silly me.) There was no way I was selling my mechanical skills that cheap. The result was the mower mechanics were afraid of me, even though I was just passing through and didn't want their job. (It paid a $1 more an hour.)

[LBlack14]

Golf Course guy since 1988 here! I'm offended a bit by some of the arrogant/ignorant comments I see here and have pretty thick skin. Never judge a Man....I'm fortunate enough as to not to have to worry about where my next meal is coming from, have a nice roof over my head, a vehicle that most would love to drive and wonderful friends and family who respect me and me them. I'm also fortunate enough to not be a lazy ass like alot of the kids/younger adults are today. The problem with the business is how willing our country is to look the other way while illegal aliens are taking jobs BECAUSE of the lazy ass kids/young adults are these days. My parents raised me with the sense you get an honest days pay for an honest/hard days work. I'm good at what I do and enjoy it for the most part. I also stay in it because I love the game, but the business is another subject all together and that in itself is a damn shame. Before you look down your nose at somebody else please look down it at the Man in the mirror. I wouldn't trade places with most of you for any amount of money. I take pride in my work and my work ethic, can you say the same and be honest in saying it? Most snot nosed kids think there's magic monkeys who get those courses in that shape and don't appreciate what they have and I pity that bunch. I'd much rather mow greens and change cups before daylight than to sit at a desk, play with pencils, stare at a clock and think about how much I hate my job that I'm over paid for not doing.

[ghalfaire]

Originally Posted by LBlack14

Before you look down your nose at somebody else please look down it at the Man in the mirror. I wouldn't trade places with most of you for any amount of money. I take pride in my work and my work ethic, can you say the same and be honest in saying it? Most snot nosed kids think there's magic monkeys who get those courses in that shape and don't appreciate what they have and I pity that bunch. I'd much rather mow greens and change cups before daylight than to sit at a desk, play with pencils, stare at a clock and think about how much I hate my job that I'm over paid for not doing.

I agree.  I was raised by people who worked with their hands and didn't make a lot of money.  But they took a lot of pride in what the did, were un-waveringly honest and hard working.  I wouldn't trade my upbringing and early life for any other.  I did, at my Father's urging, take a different route in my own life but have never been ashamed of where I came from nor do I ever think I'm somehow better than someone else because they work with their hands while I worked with my brain.  The things I learned in my early life like be honest, take pride in what you do, work hard, and if you take wages from the man don't speak poorly of him have kept me in good stead and helped whatever success I have had in generating income.

But to the OP, one thing I have learned in life is that labor is just another commodity that must be purchased.  So it does follow the traditional "supply and demand" curves.  The more people that can do a task, the less it will cost the buyer to purchase that labor.  Of course there are other considerations like who will do the job correctly, who will be working when you're not watching, and etc., but in general labor is a supply and demand controlled cost.  So if making a lot of money is your goal, and the other thing I learned in life is money doesn't equate to happiness, be the course Superintendent or Greens Keeper and to do that does require some formal education.  But be aware that as President Lincoln said, "most people are about as happy as they decide to be".  I would add, regardless of their economic status.

[LBlack14]

I agree.  I was raised by people who worked with their hands and didn't make a lot of money.  But they took a lot of pride in what the did, were un-waveringly honest and hard working.  I wouldn't trade my upbringing and early life for any other.  I did, at my Father's urging, take a different route in my own life but have never been ashamed of where I came from nor do I ever think I'm somehow better than someone else because they work with their hands while I worked with my brain.  The things I learned in my early life like be honest, take pride in what you do, work hard, and if you take wages from the man don't speak poorly of him have kept me in good stead and helped whatever success I have had in generating income.

But to the OP, one thing I have learned in life is that labor is just another commodity that must be purchased.  So it does follow the traditional "supply and demand" curves.  The more people that can do a task, the less it will cost the buyer to purchase that labor.  Of course there are other considerations like who will do the job correctly, who will be working when you're not watching, and etc., but in general labor is a supply and demand controlled cost.  So if making a lot of money is your goal, and the other thing I learned in life is money doesn't equate to happiness, be the course Superintendent or Greens Keeper and to do that does require some formal education.  But be aware that as President Lincoln said, "most people are about as happy as they decide to be".  I would add, regardless of their economic status.

Excellent post. I thank you.